The 2014 Ryder Cup: Learn everything you need to know about golf's greatest show in The Official Captain’s Guide

14:52, 20 Aug 2014

Updated 14:55, 20 Aug 2014

ByEuan McLean

THE 2014 Ryder Cup - The Official Captain’s Guide is a 132-page glossy magazine, produced in partnership with The European Tour and you can buy it from the Scotland Now website.

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AS The Ryder Cup draws ever closer, let this stirring statement from European team captain Paul McGinley whet your appetite for the pride and passion of golf’s greatest show...

“The Ryder Cup stands for something special that separates it from every other event in golf. Not even the Major events stir that kind of passion.

“The only way I can describe it is when I holed the winning putt in 2002 it felt like scoring the winner in the World Cup final. It’s not just for you - it’s for your country, your people, your family, and for people in Italy, France and Spain and beyond. They are all connected.”

Inspirational words from a captain who understands better than most what makes this bi-ennial battle with the United States so special.

And it’s just a flavour of the uplifting sense of drama and excitement that oozes from every page of a fantastic new magazine that is sure to whet your appetite for the first Ryder Cup in 40 years to be held in Scotland, the Home of Golf.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Captain McGinley, his assistant and fellow Ryder Cup winning legend Sam Torrance and the world’s leading player Rory McIlroy, this classy production gets under the skin of the biggest event in golf.

In his in-depth interview, world number one and reigning Open and USPGA champion McIlroy tells why it took him time to understand what makes The Ryder Cup so special and reveals the special relationship with McGinley that motivated him to publicly support his case for the captaincy.

McIlroy said: “It was really a players’ decision in the end. We got our way and that makes us even hungrier to win for him.”

In an expansive and amusing trip down memory lane, Torrance recalls heart-warming stories of trying to kidnap Lee Trevino instead of playing their Sunday singles match at Walton Heath and Jose Maria Olazabal trying to move a team-mate’s ball with the power of his mind!

All delivered with the customary comic style that has long made Torrance one of the most popular figures on Tour and in the European Team Room.

Elsewhere, the legendary Jack Nicklaus talks about the PGA Centenary course he built on the Gleneagles estate in the early 1990s and charts its rise in stature to become a fitting venue for the drama set to unfold from September 26-28th.

Also featured is European stalwart Bernard Gallacher, who talks about his memories of the great Seve Ballesteros and we speak to the Scottish business man who saved The Ryder Cup when it was at its lowest ebb in the early part of the 1980s.

If you’ve ever wondered how much thought goes into the uniforms the teams wear each day, you’re in for an eye-opening account from the managing director of Scottish clothing manufacturer Glenmuir.

And with profiles of American captain Tom Watson, a look at the runners and riders set to compete at Gleneagles plus a lowdown of the top 10 greatest Ryder Cup moments, you have the perfect package to whip up your excitement for the drama ahead.